GIRLS BASKETBALL: Britton Deerfield earns key TCC win over Sand Creek

A huge first quarter, great defense and dominant rebounding all added up to a big win by the Britton Deerfield girls basketball team against conference rival Sand Creek on Tuesday night, 75-53.

The win leaves BD at 10-2 in the Tri-County Conference and 13-4 overall, while Sand Creek is 10-3 in the TCC and 13-5 overall.

Cambria Handy lit it up in the first half for BD, scoring 24 of her 28 points before intermission.

"Even though Cambria had 28 points, we had balanced scoring," BD coach Craig Tanis noted. "Morgan (Tanis) picked up the slack in the second half with 15 of her 18.

"We held them to two points in the first quarter and outrebounded them by 19 for the game."

In addition to Handy's 28 points, she also grabbed 13 rebounds. Tanis added 18 points, six rebounds and six assists, Abbey Meinert added 10 points, Janessa Handy six assists and three steals.

Elizabeth Herriman led Sand Creek with 20 points, while Mikaela McCarty and Gabrielle Herriman added 11 apiece. All 11 of McCarty's points were scored in the second half.

Britton Deerfield hosts Madison on Friday at Deerfield needing a win to keep its TCC title hopes alive. Sand Creek will travel to Whitmore Lake.

Madison 49, Whiteford 30: At Madison Twp., the host Trojans clinched at least a share of the TCC title with their win. Madison improves to 12-1 in the TCC and 16-2 overall going into Friday's key battle at Britton Deerfield to determine the conference championship.

"Our defense did a nice job tonight; initially we pressed full court and got some turnovers and scoring opportunities," said Madison coach Rick McNeil. "We played half-court and pretty much locked them down after the first quarter."

Madison led 16-6 after the first quarter and built on that for the rest of the game.

Ashley Bussing had a double-double for Madison with 19 points and 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists. Ashley Morris (four blocked shots) and Brittany Kelly (four rebounds) both had nine points, while Shayla Villarreal added five assists and three steals and Haley Mellon had three assists and two steals in her first game back from injury.

Summerfield 54, Clinton 48: At Petersburg, Summerfield held off a late charge by Clinton in a game wrought with much foul-shooting as the teams committed 55 fouls and were a combined 46-for-77 from the foul line.

Summerfield led big early, 16-5 after one quarter and 25-13 at halftime, but the Redskins (6-12, 5-8 TCC) charged back with a 24-point fourth quarter, but couldn't get enough defensive stops to get the win.